METAL GEAR: INNER HEAVEN (PART I)
by jamesrhomer
Summary: Taking place during the events between Metal Gear Solid V and the first Metal Gear, this story follows Revolver Ocelot, Kazuhira Miller, Big Boss and Venom Snake as their paths twist and turn together or away from each other, eventually ending in the creation of The Boss' OUTER HEAVEN. "Now do you remember?" This part includes the first TWO chapters.
1. Part I

METAL GEAR: INNER HEAVEN (PART ONE)

By James R. Homer

PROLOGUE

Leather boots sink in and out of the mud, sometimes grazed by the odd patch of green flora. Africa was a big place, and Ocelot knew this. His two revolvers placed right by his sides, ready to pounce at any moment, with his rucksack clung around his shoulders, filled to the brim with equipment.

During his long voyage, he recounted his time on Mother Base just days prior to his expedition.

He felt that it was his perfect chance to slip away, during those hectic couple days. Escaping from an off-shore military base is pretty difficult, after-all. Ocelot, however, learnt how to do it from the best. When he first joined Diamond Dogs, Kazuhira filled him in on the infamous Zadornov's escaping antics. His escape was still difficult, but thanks to that crazy Russian, Ocelot found a way.

CHAPTER I – VENOM

Ocelot has the memory of three days ago still fresh in his memory – he considered it a miracle. Mother Base had a strict routine. That routine was the foundations of Mother Base. Midnight shift ends at four, followed by the morning shifts, then the day shifts. An infinite loop, unbreaking loop. And if you did break it, if you were late, Kazuhira would tear down on you like a barrage of missiles.

This day, however, was different. Before a mission, everything would be discussed between Kaz and Venom Snake, going over the possibilities, different scenarios. This day, that didn't happen. This day, Venom just vanished. Vanished, WITH Pequod and a heli.

Obviously, Kazuhira threw a fit. The intel team was all over it, he was gearing up his deployment teams, fear, concern and curiosity spread throughout Mother Base. Quite fast, for a man with one leg.

During the commotion, Ocelot slipped out on a boat. It took a few days, but he eventually found his way to Africa.

Unknowlingly, he was treading on shared land with Venom Snake himself – however he was not Ocelot's target. No, he had a different motive. In some villages of Africa, reports of a "blonde-haired boy and a child wearing a gas-mask" had arose. Ocelot knew what this meant, and predicting that Venom knew the truth – meaning Kaz would too, soon, he went off to train HIS snake.

Just on the horizon was the village in which the most recent reporting of Eli had arose, and Ocelot had his eyes set on it.

However, as he approached, he got a call.

After stopping in his tracks, he answered it.

Kazuhira Miller was on the other end.

CHAPTER II – TWO PHANTOMS

Kazuhira had hidden himself in the deepest, darkest part of Mother Base. The basement storage. Even though he was surrounded by crates upon crates, the room felt empty to him.

Like most things.

He was trembling, with rage, with sadness, with betrayal. After Skull Face took everything from him, MSF, his comrades, his limbs, his identity, he had one thing. Just one thing left. And that was the legend, Big Boss. He was alive, with one arm, by God, he was STILL alive, and he was STILL fighting. Venom was Kaz's last strand of hope that he could cling onto. In a way, Kaz saw him as a brother. A man that he could one-hundred-percent completely trust.

In his own way, Kaz loved Venom. As a compradre.

Two minutes earlier, that last strand was taken from him. And now, he had nothing.

Now, all he felt was the phantom pain.

Venom Snake had called him, and told him about the cassette tape he had received from the man who sold the world. The man who sold the world the biggest lie ever created. This was years before Operation Intrude N313, this was just the seeds, the beginnings of something far greater.

To Kaz however, it was a betrayal. Big Boss used him as a pawn in his own lie.

It didn't end there, however. Revolver Ocelot, the man that took so long for him to begin to trust, was in on it too.

Of course, the missing-limbed man wasn't going to just take this. He couldn't contact Big Boss, the man himself, but by God, he could and WOULD contact the man part of the lie –

Ocelot.

Luckily, for Kaz's sanity, he picked up.

As soon as he realised, he began:

"What was it all for?" Kaz said, hollow. He continued, "if the boss has some plan, what is it?".

Ocelot, after taking a moment of reflection, began, "The real Big Boss is working separately from us, to create his new nation."

Confusion growing, Kaz answered, "New nation?".

"A military nation, above and apart from all. The true Outer Heaven" Ocelot said, "something created to maintain world balance. Independent of the struggles for independency for personal profit, cycles of revenge between countries." Ocelot smirked to himself. "It'll be an army alright." His voice crackled through the device and rung through Kaz's ears.

Ocelot continued, "Big Boss is building a nation. But, 'till it's complete we support the OTHER Big Boss. The phantom carries on his legend. His meme. That, is Big Boss' plan."

Kaz hangs onto every word coming from Ocelot. "So that's the way it is," Kaz eventually said. His innards were burning with anger, however he tried to control it. "Nine years ago, I thought everything had been taken from me. But now I really HAVE lost it all. The Boss, and the future we were building TOGETHER".

On the other end, Ocelot couldn't help but feeling for the man he was speaking to. He couldn't see Kaz's face, but he knew what it would be looking like right now. "One day, the age of Big Boss' sons will arise. They'll likely want to settle the score with him. We'll have to shape them. We'll EACH have roles to play." Ocelot was suddenly very choice and careful about what he saying, as if he was treading through a verbal minefield.

Sighing, he continued. "Building the foundations for revolution lead by both Big Bosses, the true one, AND the phantom."

After a lingering pause, Kaz's anger subsided, and was replaced by his longing for revenge. The same longing that had shrouded him for the past NINE years. "No," he started, "the Boss can go to hell. I'll make the phantom and his son stronger to send him there."

He hung up. Still trembling, Kaz slowly got up with the help of his wooden stick and headed for the stairs.

CHAPTER III – YOU'RE PRETTY GOOD

A short while after his abrupt conversation with Kazuhira Miller, Ocelot walked through the village which had been on his mind for the past couple of days. Every step he took in that village felt like he was stepping closer and closer to the beginning of everything. His entire plan started or ended here.

However, his bets were on the latter. Littered around the village was butchered CFA soldiers, frozen in a state of shock and confusion.

Throats slit.

Clothes blood-stained.

Letting out a gust of air through his nostrils, Ocelot knew. This was definitely the work of Eli.

He began to walk around the bodies, taking in every detail.

The gold casings lying on the ground, the scattered guns, the small boot prints. He was looking for tracks, but as far as he could see, there were none.

Until the sound of a pistol being cocked behind him broke the contemplative silence.

"Came looking for me?" a pubescent voice said behind him.

Ocelot couldn't help but smirk. "You're pretty good."

END OF PART ONE


	2. Part II

METAL GEAR: INNTER HEAVEN (PART II)

By James R. Homer

CHAPTER III – THE WHITE MAMBA

"Pretty? Good?!" Eli replied, offended. "You realise that I can kill you right here, right now?"

"Yes." Ocelot started as he casually turned around to face the boy that was half his size. "But you won't."

Eli scoffed. "What makes you think that?"

"Because you would have shot me by now."

Nostrils flared, Eli contemplates his next move, as he strengthens his grip on the hilt of his Colt. All that work to escape Mother Base, to escape his "father", and now he has Revolver Ocelot HIMSELF in grasp yet he wouldn't pull the trigger.

"Why?!", that word rung throughout his head. Then he realised. His "friend" was doing it.

"Where's the psychic?" Ocelot said, eventually.

As soon as the words exited his mouth, the boy appeared behind Eli, floating, legs dangling. Eli turned around, angry. "Why won't you let me kill him?!".

Ocelot wanted to smile, however kept his contentment at bay. "Do not forget, your friend can read minds. Just because you have a gun doesn't make you a snake-"

Swiftly and angrily, Eli interrupted, "Can't you see what I did to those men?" he said, taking a quick peek at his handiwork.

The moustachioed man straightened his back and looked down at the armed boy. "Ah, yes, you took out some soldiers of fortune. That's the least you can do as a clone of the man himself. But if you want to reach your true potential, if you want to settle the score with your father… Then I'll turn you into the man that can do it."

After a moment of consideration, Eli slowly put down his weapon. He was tired, weak, covered in dirt and blood, none of which was his own. He knew the man with the moustache was right, which made him ever angrier. Thankfully, his floating friend kept him on a leash.

"What makes _you_ able to train _me_?" Eli replied, stubbornly holding onto whatever pride he had left.

"Twenty years ago, I was just like you. I had a gun and wanted to prove myself. Until I met a man named Naked Snake. I fought that man, tried to kill him. Yet he let me live. Why? Because I was still young. If I can change, so can you, Eli." He put his hand out and opened his palm.

Cursing his predicament, Eli shook it, and betrayed everything he previously believed in the process.

CHAPTER IV – PUNISHED

On the same continent, yet miles away, was Punished "Venom" Snake, walking through the forests of Africa with his comrade "Pequod", a man that took Snake to his destination, however was now denoted to a passenger.

Even when holding the title of Big Boss and having the burdens of which bearing down on his shoulders and mind, Venom Snake still strode strong. He could whine and moan about his current situation, about how a man he revered has a legend had stolen his life, his identity, his past and now his future, yet where would that get him? He replaced his first feeling of hate and rage by letting it subside and be taken by dire curiosity and longing to know what his place was in Big Boss' convoluted game of chess.

Pequod was merely insurance to Venom, a deterrent. If Kazuhira came for him or tried to interrupt his meeting with the real Big Boss by sending the Diamond Dogs, he would use Pequod either as a hostage or a bargaining chip.

"Boss?" Pequod inquired, sounding weak.

"I told you not to call me that," Venom replied bluntly.

"Sorry – sir, where are we going?"

"The less you know the better."

"I won't say anything, I promise!"

"I meant for your sake, not mine." After that, the two fell into a lasting silence. The way Venom was used to working.

CHAPTER V – THE PERFECT SOLDIERS

Sat around a campfire however no less on-guard was Revolver Ocelot and Eli. Night had taken Africa, plunging them both in darkness, only illuminated by the dancing orange light between them.

Ocelot was busy wiping down one of his prized revolvers as Eli just stared at him in contempt. The white-haired man didn't let it show on his countenance, but he knew that this was the beginning of it all. Fate was beginning to take its course, his plan for the future becoming more and more bright. All he had to do for now was play his part.

Eli took it upon himself to break the over-bearing silence. "Where are we going to go?"

"I'm taking you to Britain."

"Britain?!"

"Yes," Ocelot carried on, disregarding Eli's concern, "you'll be safest there."

Eli scoffed, "I don't need to be safe."

Now Ocelot looked up from his revolver. "Do you have any idea what you are?" Eli didn't reply, just looked at the man with an icy stare. "You don't, do you?"

Ocelot holstered his revolver and stood up. "You are the result of the Les Enfants Terribles project. A child created out of cursed genes. To some, you a threat. To others, you are a commodity. Don't forget that".

"Then what am I to you?" Eli said in his usual sharp tone.

"Potential." Ocelot replied bluntly.

Eli got up and began to speak when suddenly –

The sound of guns cocking around them, their source hidden by the cover of night, but they were there, definitely there. Dread seeped into the minds of Ocelot and the boy.

Then, sounds of footsteps.

Soon, the guns and their owners came into vision thanks to the campfire's warm light. They were all wearing CFA uniforms.

And they were pissed.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ocelot said in Afrikaans, keeping his posture straight and gaze steady.

"Hand over the child!" The leader replied in the same tongue, pointing his gun at Eli and then at Ocelot.

"Why should I do that?"

Then, shocking the soldiers and putting a dent in Ocelot's posture, The Third Boy appeared, floating.

In response, the soldiers shouted and began opening fire on the floating boy – Ocelot and Eli dropped down as Rebenok vanished and reappeared over and over again, the soldiers wasting their precious ammo.

Ocelot drew one of his revolvers and began opening fire on the CFA soldiers. He wasn't about to let some soldiers of fortune destroy his plans for the future in front of him. With perfect accuracy, he took down SIX of them, however three of their comrades remained.

He began to reload, when out of nowhere two of the soldiers were shot down. The third, shaking with fear and pointing his rifle at whatever was moving was frantic.

Emerging from the blanket of night, a white-haired man appeared and slit the throat of the third with a silver machete, that was now covered in rose-red blood.

The man with white hair turned to Ocelot, who was on the ground and completely taken aback by the man's appearance. He felt powerless, something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Whoever or whatever was in front of him had short, pearly white hair, eyes that could cut any man who stared into them and wore combat gear with a mask that covered only half of his face.

An enigma, a completely unknown variable. Which made Ocelot, for the first time in years, feel that dreaded feeling: fear.

After a few moments of both parties trying to recollect their calm, the man pulled down his mask.

"My name is Frank Jaeger."

END OF PART TWO


	3. PART III

METAL GEAR: INNER HEAVEN (PART III)

Written by James R. Homer

CHAPTER VI – JAEGAR

Ocelot remembered that name. He had heard it before, from Big Boss. When the two first met, Big Boss told him the story of Frank Hunter, who used the frankness of a small boy to kill with the ruthlessness of a killer.

Whoever he was, Ocelot knew he was a threat and instantly draws his second, fully-loaded revolver.

"You don't seriously expect to kill me with only six bullets?"

"I can do it with one." Ocelot retorted in his blunt fashion.

Jaegar takes a step toward Ocelot, which is met the moustachioed man pulling down the hammer on his Single Action Army. He was scared, but didn't let it show, he kept his grip steady and his eyes focused.

"I have a message from Big Boss," Frank started, "Kazuhira is coming."

"Yes, I expected that." Ocelot replied. He tightened his grip on his revolver, almost shattering the hilt.

"Okay… If we're going to go this way then you'll need a bigger gun than that."

Knowing the man in front of him was correct, and that he wasn't about to risk losing everything when he knows nothing about this "Jaegar" or the Boss' plan. Reluctantly, Ocelot lowered his revolver.

"Good choice." Frank spoke with a certain emptiness, every word was monotone and dull, yet nevertheless still intimidating. "I've been watching you, and the boy, on the orders of Big Boss. I suggest you two better get off this continent as soon as possible. There's a bad moon rising."

"What does THAT mean?" Eli interjected, emerging from behind Ocelot.

"Kazuhira has rallied Diamond Dogs. Has decried you, Ocelot, and your comrade Big Boss as traitors."

Ocelot scoffed. "The Diamond Dogs idolise Big Boss."

"No, they idolise his phantom. Kazuhira knows the tongue of a soldier very well, he can manipulate an army to believe anything."

For a split-second, Ocelot began thinking about the words being fed to him, his guard still up. He broke his train of thought and looked at Jaegar. "How do you know all this?"

"Mini-recording devices are hid pretty much everywhere in Mother Base. How do you think all of those cassette tapes the Boss likes to listen to so much get recorded?" Frank walked closer to Ocelot, until they were almost nose-to-nose.

His heart quickened, the beating reverbed around his head. Still, he wouldn't let it affect his rock-solid countenance.

"Kazuhira is coming with an army. And I doubt he has any intention to let the terrible child live. So I suggest you take your revolvers and get out of here, before something bad happens."

"No." Ocelot said, defiantly. Eli looked at him in confusion.

"What? I thought you were taki-" Eli began and was quickly cut off.

"You are going to Britain. Just, without me."

"Rather noble of you," Jaegar said, "but foolish."

"I have unfinished business with both Kazuhira and Big Boss." Ocelot said, with a sigh. "Take the boy".

Frank shook his head. "My allegiance is with Big Boss."

"That boy is going to lead us to a new age. He doesn't know it yet, but I do. He needs to learn to fight, or he shall die. I cannot babysit him, I have bigger things to attend to in the meantime." Ocelot said, taking off his rucksack.

"If you leave, I will follow suit and just let him rot out here."

Ocelot looks up from his rucksack at Jaegar. He loosens his grip on the rucksack and lets it fall.

"If Eli dies, I am going to first kill the Boss but then I am going to find you and place a bullet in your skull. All I need is one, and I have twelve. My plan is still in its infancy, I cannot let it be impeded now, not ever."

"You're just going to leave me? With HIM?" Eli shouted.

"Yes." Ocelot responded, sharply and bluntly.

"What is this plan you speak of?" Jaegar said as Ocelot rummaged through his backpack.

Ocelot ignores him.

The moustachioed man, since day one, had a carefully planned road layed out in front of him – by himself. He was snatched from birth, forced into a world of espionage and deceit. He always had a role to play, and he was always scheming. His plan was to take down the organisation that forced him into this life, and every step he took, every word he said and every person he met was in order to further this agenda. He knew Eli and the other two children of the Les Enfants Terribles would have very large roles to play in the future.

However, he couldn't let Big Boss or Kazuhira tear each other apart. They were crucial for his lifetime scheme to work, he needed Outer Heaven to be built, he needed Big Boss to fall at the hands of one of his children.

The only way to do this, in his eyes, was to get Eli to safety and stop whatever war was on the horizon. He had a knack for knowing when things were going south, and this was one of those times.

Eventually, Ocelot found what he was looking for. It was a cassette tape. He offered it to Eli.

Reluctantly, Eli took the cassette tape.

"When you get to England, listen to this."

With that, Ocelot closed his rucksack and disappeared into the blanket of night.

Eli did not like Ocelot, in fact, he despised him. Yet, he still felt a degree of loss as the moustachioed man vanished into the darkness, and he was left alone with the white-haired man whom he had no connection too.

CHAPTER VII – NOW DO YOU REMEMBER?

It was the early hours of the morning. Pequod awoke and for a short second was confused where he was, and was then hit with the pang of memory. He was tied to a tree in the middle of an African forest, with a transmitted in his shirt pocket.

"Great", he thought.

The rope was too thick and too far away to chew through. That was something he remembered Kazuhira telling the intel team in case they were ever captured. "Chew through it if it's rope!" This was something Pequod had only overheard, however, he never thought he would ACTUALLY need such advice. Yet, here he was. Alone and unable to move.

"It's okay," he thought to himself, "the cavalry will be here soon".

Thankfully, he was correct.

END OF PART THREE

NOTE FROM AUTHOR: Hello and thanks for sticking around this long! This is the third part in Inner Heaven, and there's a strong chance Part IV or V will be the last. This is the last of Frank Jaegar and Eli you'll be seeing in the story for a while, as we focus on the more neglected and important characters- such as Venom, Big Boss and Kazuhira Miller.


	4. PART IV

METAL GEAR: INNER HEAVEN (PART IV)

Written by James R. Homer

CHAPTER VIII – YOU HOPE HATRED MAY SOMEDAY REPLACE THE PAIN…

Venom Snake was not exactly sure what to expect as he walked toward the place Big Boss told him to. Seemed like most of the things he had been doing up to that point was because Big Boss told him to, even when he thought he was operating independently.

He had served his purpose, that is all that mattered to Venom. At least he was loyal to the mission. As he expected, however, that loyalty to the mission, the loyalty that eventually led to his old self being destroyed and replaced by a cannon fodder body-double, was not going to earn him an award.

Every time his mind came to this subject, he remembered to stay calm about it. Violence, anger, lusts for revenge… Those weren't going to get him anywhere. "Just look at Miller", he thought to himself. Then he remembered- Kazuhira Miller.

Rescuing Miller was Venom's first mission in this false skin. Yet, even though he was not the man named Big Boss and even though during that Peace Walker incident he was just a lowly MSF soldier, he still felt great affection toward Kaz, seeing him captive and weak.

Maybe it was the hypno-therapy done by Ocelot, maybe it was a placebo effect of "being" Big Boss. Whatever it was, he couldn't explain it.

At the very least he didn't have to worry about Kazuhira or Diamond Dogs interfering with his current trek toward his destination. Tying up Pequod with that transmitter would throw them off for a while, at least.

The old man that housed Venom's brain, he was dead. Killed on that very same helicopter that Chico and Paz did. He had barely any recollection of his time as that man, he is now VENOM SNAKE. As the Boss told him on the cassette tape, "I am Big Boss and so are you".

His destination was just up ahead. He could see glimpses of the cave through the dense foliage of Africa. The entrance was built of rock and dirt, however anything beyond that was pure black.

Good job his pistol had a flashlight attached to it.

As the cave became closer and closer, his anticipation and crippling curiosity ever increasing, he noticed something in the dirt ahead of him.

Tracks.

Bike tracks.

He knew this was the right place.

Soon after, he was following the light of his pistol through the dark and rocky passage. He was constantly having to awkwardly step over jagged rocks that stuck out from every side of this damned passage.

Eventually, the cave opened up, eventually becoming like a rocky warehouse. He was at least tens of feet underground.

This area was bigger, more room to breathe. He looked around, and noticed some rocks shaped like his horn. Even though he was practically shaking with anticipation, this at least made him smirk slightly. At the opposite end of this wide, open, rocky space was a cascade of differently shaped rocks, all of different sizes.

However, he noticed something buried under it. Right at the top, there was a pure white, metallic object jutting out of the pile of rocks and dirt.

Slowly, surveying his surroundings with every step he took, carefully went toward the pile of rocks. When he reached the bottom of it he slowly climbed up, making sure not to make the rocks slip. He got to the object that was jutting out and began to move some of the rocks in front of it – carefully.

Even though he couldn't see what the whole thing looked like, he knew it was BIG. This was judge the edge jutting out. He began throwing more and more and more rocks out of the way, until he saw what it was.

It was a small, curved AI core.

The very same one used on METAL GEAR ZEKE, all those years ago.

Sometimes, he saw glimpses of that machine when he went to sleep. It plagued and haunted his mind, but now he could see it, everything was clear to him.

Sadly, what he was looking at was nothing more than a relic of the past, of times gone by. The old beauty was defunct now. All those parts, all of those memory boards, just to see MSF's trump card buried, forgotten and broken.

That's when he heard footsteps behind him.

"When Cipher attacked us, ZEKE was on the sea floor with the nuke." A voice spoke from behind him, but not any voice, it was his OWN voice. It was rougher and slightly more deep, but that was definitely his OWN voice.

Big Boss was behind him.

Sure enough, when Venom turned his head around, he saw himself looking at him. With less scars, both arms and without that annoying horn, but it was definitely him.

"After the 'Paz' incident, Strangelove made some adjustments to ZEKE's AI. She knew that MSF was going to go down. Hard. How she knew, I don't know, but she gave ZEKE the ability to know when to run. Like me and Kaz, she must've had some sentiment for ZEKE." The original Snake chuckled. "The two things she only ever cared about, The Boss and a machine."

For Venom, this was surreal. It was like he was looking in a mirror, but he still saw someone else. The disconnect messed with him. For the first time, he was completely speechless.

Big Boss continued, "when Mother Base was attacked, ZEKE ran for as long as it could, eventually finding its way here, getting trapped and slowly dying over the course of nine years."

"Ishmael?" Venom eventually managed to muster the question.

"Yes, Ahab, but you can call me Big Boss."

CHAPTER IX – AN ARMY WITHOUT BORDERS

Ahab stared at Metal Gear ZEKE from the railings, eating some rations on his break. He usually did that on his break, coming down to have a look at ZEKE. He was doing it since development started. Being, arguably, the best soldier in MSF, he was usually out there, on the battlefield, fighting alongside his comrades, sometimes seeing them die, sometimes coming back home with them. The latter was rare. After everything he had seen, everything he had done, he liked just watching ZEKE stand there. The silence calmed him.

Every time he sat there, legs dangling over the cat-walk, he still couldn't believe what MSF had been able to accomplish in such short time. To think, he'd once be fighting alongside it one day. Eventually, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

He knew they belonged to Big Boss. His footsteps carry a heavy weight, which is shown in the crashing sounds they made along the metal of the cat-walks.

"Eating here again?" The one-eyed man asked.

Ahab looked up at him, feeling embarrassed. "Yes."

"Why don't you sit with the other guys in the Mess Hall?" Big Boss continued with his questions.

"Sometimes it's nice… To just sit quietly."

"I guess I can understand that. Me and Kaz don't have the same luxury."

Ahab smiled slightly. "I can imagine," even though the man standing over him was meant to be his comrade, his title and the legend it carried intimidated Ahab.

"Zadornov's escaped again."

"Again?!" Ahab replied, almost choking.

"Yeah. I want you to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity around here. Seeing as you like to spend so much time here."

Slowly, Ahab nodded, honoured. "I will keep an eye out, boss."

Big Boss nodded at him and walked off. Ahab blushed like a schoolgirl.

About ten years later, that Mother Base now blasted off the face of the Earth, a new MSF, Diamond Dogs, are on the hunt for the old Big Boss.

They've followed the scent long enough, and now the one legged man has lead them to the entrance of a cave…

END OF PART FOUR

PART V (FINALE) COMING SOON


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